How Do I Handle Debt Collectors?
Debt collectors or debt collection agencies are those who come to you and try to collect on your debts.
There are two ways in which these agencies work.
Sometimes they are retained by financial companies to recover their debts and are paid a commission on the amount of money that they collect.
Other times they actually purchase these debts from financial firms and then recover the money from you.
In this scenario the debt collection rm is actually the owner of your debts and not the company or bank from whom you took the loan initially.
Debt collectors use a number of tactics to collect their money.
Starting from calling you repeatedly to push you into submissiveness through sheer persistence, to actually resorting to Unlawful means.
Many times people either strike a deal with the debt collector or pay up something that they cannot afford to, simply because they do not want to be pestered by the debt collector any more.
Most debt collectors rely on the fact that the average Joe does not know his rights.
They actually stretch the law here and there if they feel that it will help them recover the money.
After all, the more they collect from you, the more they earn, so there is no incentive for them to behave in any other way.
The only way you can deal with them is if you know the law yourself.
You can then take recourse to whatever means you feel necessary to rid yourself of this problem.
There are a number of federal laws that are in place to safeguard you.
A few of them are listed below.
1.
Always ask for written proof from the debt collector that you actually owe what you do.
He is legally required to comply with this request.
2.
If you disagree with the amount, or even feel that you don't owe anything, you can dispute it.
You need to send a written notice to the collector within 30 days of receiving the written statement of your dues.
3.
You can also write the debt collector a letter asking him not to contact you again about a certain debt.
He cannot then contact you in any way other than to either acknowledge your letter or to let you know about the specific action he is going to take to recover the debt.
4.
A debt collector cannot contact you either before 8 am or after 9 pm unless you tell him it is OK to do so.
5.
He cannot contact you at work if you tell him that your employer does not like you taking personal calls at work.
6.
He cannot even keep calling you repeatedly over a single day.
You can sue him for harassment.
7.
He cannot use abusive or profane language while talking to you.
8.
Lastly a debt collector cannot threaten you with illegal consequences or those he has no intention of keeping.
If you have taken a debt and feel responsible for repaying it, but are unable to do so due to financial strain, you can sit down and talk to your debt collector and work out a plan on how you propose to pay of your debt.
You can also try to make a part payment on your debt, and many times the collector will accept less than the full amount of the debt if you work it out with him.
There are definite legal boundaries within which a debt collector needs to work and if you know what protection you are entitled to, you can deal with him better.
In fact many times, if the amount of your debt is very low, and if you show him that he will have to take recourse to legal action to recover his debt, he may actually not pursue it further because it will cost him more in money and time to pursue you legally than to let you go.
This is not meant to be advice to suggest that you do not pay back your debts, on the contrary our suggestion is to sit down with him and work it out and arrive at a consensus.
There are two ways in which these agencies work.
Sometimes they are retained by financial companies to recover their debts and are paid a commission on the amount of money that they collect.
Other times they actually purchase these debts from financial firms and then recover the money from you.
In this scenario the debt collection rm is actually the owner of your debts and not the company or bank from whom you took the loan initially.
Debt collectors use a number of tactics to collect their money.
Starting from calling you repeatedly to push you into submissiveness through sheer persistence, to actually resorting to Unlawful means.
Many times people either strike a deal with the debt collector or pay up something that they cannot afford to, simply because they do not want to be pestered by the debt collector any more.
Most debt collectors rely on the fact that the average Joe does not know his rights.
They actually stretch the law here and there if they feel that it will help them recover the money.
After all, the more they collect from you, the more they earn, so there is no incentive for them to behave in any other way.
The only way you can deal with them is if you know the law yourself.
You can then take recourse to whatever means you feel necessary to rid yourself of this problem.
There are a number of federal laws that are in place to safeguard you.
A few of them are listed below.
1.
Always ask for written proof from the debt collector that you actually owe what you do.
He is legally required to comply with this request.
2.
If you disagree with the amount, or even feel that you don't owe anything, you can dispute it.
You need to send a written notice to the collector within 30 days of receiving the written statement of your dues.
3.
You can also write the debt collector a letter asking him not to contact you again about a certain debt.
He cannot then contact you in any way other than to either acknowledge your letter or to let you know about the specific action he is going to take to recover the debt.
4.
A debt collector cannot contact you either before 8 am or after 9 pm unless you tell him it is OK to do so.
5.
He cannot contact you at work if you tell him that your employer does not like you taking personal calls at work.
6.
He cannot even keep calling you repeatedly over a single day.
You can sue him for harassment.
7.
He cannot use abusive or profane language while talking to you.
8.
Lastly a debt collector cannot threaten you with illegal consequences or those he has no intention of keeping.
If you have taken a debt and feel responsible for repaying it, but are unable to do so due to financial strain, you can sit down and talk to your debt collector and work out a plan on how you propose to pay of your debt.
You can also try to make a part payment on your debt, and many times the collector will accept less than the full amount of the debt if you work it out with him.
There are definite legal boundaries within which a debt collector needs to work and if you know what protection you are entitled to, you can deal with him better.
In fact many times, if the amount of your debt is very low, and if you show him that he will have to take recourse to legal action to recover his debt, he may actually not pursue it further because it will cost him more in money and time to pursue you legally than to let you go.
This is not meant to be advice to suggest that you do not pay back your debts, on the contrary our suggestion is to sit down with him and work it out and arrive at a consensus.
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